


Averting Disaster

by RandyWrites



Series: Canon Noncompliance [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, altho it might not be a full thing idk we'll see, and I'm adding more bc why the frick not, bc gotham is full of gays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 21:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13579350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyWrites/pseuds/RandyWrites
Summary: Raven simply wants to get through her pre-med at Gotham U without a supernatural crisis.Barbara has been thinking about quitting the vigilante routine for quite awhile now.But Gotham is a city in which trouble will find you, even when you don't go seeking it out. And it's going to take the two of them to stop the sudden surge of interest that the city's youth has in the occult, and to bring the one responsible for it all to justice.





	1. Discovery

With a sigh, she knocked on the door once more and waited for the girls whispering behind it to answer.

This was not how Raven imagined her Friday night would be spent. In fact, she had a chemistry textbook that needed studying, as well as a Dean Koontz novel that she needed to finish and return to an old friend. Either one of those prospects would be better than breaking up a thus-far failed séance that had been bothering her for the better part of the night.

It was something akin to a neighbor knocking on the shared wall of an apartment, in order to get someone's attention, but not realizing that they were banging on the wrong side.

Which meant if she didn't stop them now, there was no telling what sort of horrors her neighbors could be unleashing upon their building.

That didn't mean Raven didn't have a damn good idea of what those horrors might entail, though.

She hated when her _relatives_ stopped by for visits, after all, but she always knew when they might be getting too close for comfort.

A brave soul finally opened the door and peeked out at her.

"Um, hi?" the tween was unsure and timid, like she could sense that she and her friends had been caught in the act.

And for all intents and purposes, they had been.

"Someone rang for a demon?" Damn it. She'll have to remember to _thank_ Garfield the next time they meet. After all those years of berating him, his sense of humor had somehow rubbed off on her.

The girl's eyes widened in shock. One of the faces behind her paled, and another started to panic.

"I told you we shouldn't ha-"

"Shut up, Stacy!"

"You don't look like-" Another had started before Rae cut her off.

"Is there an _adult_ I can talk to here?" She crossed her arms, mostly out of boredom, but also in an attempt to have them break down their guards.

In a purple pullover and sweatpants, even Raven had to admit that she had lost some of her edge in the past year. But it was worth it if it meant blending in.

It was also worth stretching out the ol' powers every once in a while. And now she put her empathy on full blast, trying to calm everyone's nerves at the 'authority' figure that darkened the doorway.

After a moment, one of the girls finally spoke up. "No. But Hannah's mom is gonna be home soon."

"All I needed to hear," Raven grumbled before pushing past them and into the apartment.

...

There were many ways that Barbara Gordon preferred to spend her Friday nights.

A new favorite had been starting a hot bath, enjoying a glass of wine and some jazz, and simply unwinding with a new show or a good book.

She longed for that as she smashed a man's head into a table, and whirled around to counter another's punch.

"Batgirl, if it's not too much trouble," a familiar, distinctly British, voice rang through the comm in her cowl, "The dynamic duo require your assistance in the Cauldron."

"Sorry, little busy with my own case, Al," she replied as she knocked the last man off his feet. She almost felt bad for the assured concussion that he had just received, but she brushed the feeling aside.

It was meant to be a simple drug bust, but she hadn't left any men to be interrogated. An amateur move, for certain, but then again... it was a _Friday_ and the night was still young. There was plenty of opportunity to see if she could find the next rung up the chain of command.

"Let them know that I'm going to be working this for the next week, okay?"

"Certainly, Miss Gordon."

"Batgirl out." She turned off the comm with a sinking feeling. Something caught her eye then, in a darkened doorway. A flash of light from a room that she hadn't been able to scout out before breaking up the dealers' meeting.

There was something there that she felt didn't want to be seen.

...

Sure enough, the mixture of the mother's Yankee candle collection and salt laid into pseudo-satanic symbols was enough of a tip off to Raven that these kids were looking for 'harmless sleepover fun'.

But it wasn't the 'hollywood horror show' set-up that drew her attention.

There in the middle of an extremely lopsided pentagram, lay a genuine Necronomicon.

_'That's definitely where the hellish screams were coming from earlier.'_

She carefully treaded over the salt lines and used a quick shot of telekinesis to lay a dishtowel over the book before picking it up. There was no telling the ways it might be cursed or what the girls could have done to tamper with it.

"I need to know right now," she whirled around on them, holding the book high, as if the evil emanating from it was physically repugnant (which it was), and continued, "Who's is this, and where did she get it from?"

Several of the girls started talking over each other.

"It was _her_ idea!"

"Hannah's brother's friend was the one who-"

"I don't even _believe_ in that crap!"

" _Please_ don't tell-"

"Enough!" Raven closed her eyes and sent up a quick silent prayer to whatever deity would listen. Kids, and especially young teens, were not her strong suit. But they were preferable to adults in many ways. They felt things more intensely than most adults would, but those emotions were always straight forward.

Right now, she was facing their fear and anxiety, and it was something that she could work with, given that it wasn't directed at any person or thing in particular but rather at the situation. Raven felt a short pang in her chest then. It was a familiar, if now lost, feeling. One she hadn't felt first-hand in years. Fresh and raw emotions like these always seemed to bring out the worst side-effects for her empathy.

"You're not in trouble. Not yet, at least." The relief that swept through the group now was nearly overwhelming, in its own way. Raven took a moment to face each of them, shifting her gaze very carefully from face to face. "These are forces you should not be messing with, okay? I need to know where you got this book, and," she paused then.

She was supposed to be keeping her head down. She was supposed to be trying civilian life.

She didn't need to play hero. Gotham City had enough of those.

But right now, with a real threat looming right by her own dwelling, Raven knew she had to step up. Just one more time.

"And I need to stop them from putting anyone else in danger. So please. Where did you guys get this book?"

...

No matter how many times she stumbled across it, Barbara was still appalled by the types of terrors people would inflict on each other.

One would think that being the daughter of the police commissioner would desensitize her to the concept at the very least. She thought that her time as a vigilante and working on hundreds of similar, or often worse, cases would help her to face it head on.

The truth was, it never got easier.

The recovery time from the initial shock was the only thing that got faster over the years though.

And discovering human sacrifice right alongside a drug operation was one that they hadn't seen in a few years, at any rate.

She slowly turned the comms back on, this time to send a tip to GCPD, and then on to Alfred.

"Hey Al, I've got a bigger case than I thought. Just let Bruce know that I'll call him if I'm in over my head, okay? It's… I think it's going to be a long one."


	2. Suggestion

When starting any type of research, any student truly committed to their studies will tell you, that the library would be the most important resource to use. Even if it was only for the free public wifi, which appeared, to Barbara, to be quickly becoming one of the only reasons that many a student would visit the site of what would become part of her future career.

At least, what  _may_  be part of her future. She was still looking for an opening in some non-life-threatening part of Gotham's police force, of course. Commissioner Jim Gordon was making that exceptionally difficult, filling in those spots long before she would get even a whisper of them.

But until that day, working as a vigilante was just fine. She'd done it for the better part of her adolescence, and she was quite good at it too. But even with all of the great strides that Batman and Jim both have done for the city, there was still much more work to be done. Within the GCPD, and without.

She could play along to Dad's overprotectiveness, build up her experience with information systems, all while satisfying that itch to clean up crime on the sly. She could stand to solve a mystery or two on her own in the meantime, and enjoy the other little things out of this life that she was starting to build for herself.

And, maybe, a few not-so-little things, as well.

"Happy Birthday, Babs," a familiar voice smiled as he set down a cupcake, with a single lit candle, atop the library's reception desk. The smell of strong, freshly brewed coffee and mildewing pages were enough to mask the distinct smoke coming off the wick, but nothing could mask the sight of such a dangerous display.

" _Dick_! I  _told_  you-" she began to scold, blowing out the candle quickly and glancing around to make sure no other techs or students were watching. In the early morning din of activity, as students rushed off to make it in time for their classes, none paid any attention to them.

"I know, ' _this is a library_ '! But there's also a  _Jitters_  right across that bank of computers," Dick leaned in conspiratorially as he gestured vaguely, and Barbara could barely keep the smile off her face as he strained over the desk's surface to reach her, "And last I checked, Gotham State's Library was pro-study snacks-"

"Only on the ground floor," she reminded just before she leaned up the rest of the way to let her lips brush his in the quickest of kisses. "And I'm still on-the-clock, wonder boy."

"Oof, you'd think becoming  _my own_  man, leading  _my own_  team,  _and_  protecting  _my own_  city would finally get you to  _drop that_."

"Not on your life," she laughed lightly, picking out the candle and unwrapping the confection.

She glanced around one more time, as the library quieted with the last of the students making wild dashes for their classes. This early on in the semester was certainly no time for becoming lax on attendance records. Babs smiled to herself, remembering, and not envying, those new students of this season of life. She was blessed enough to have gone through  _that_  whole ordeal sooner than most, and now was enjoying freedom from it at a time in life when most were just starting their journeys into adulthood.

Being a young prodigy had  _some_  benefits, naturally.

"So, any words you'd like to share with me, for this, your last year as a  _teenager_?"

"I've got a year to prep for  _that_  eulogy. And I definitely won't say I missed out on much," she scoffed, finishing off the treat before continuing, "Even considering all the stuff you and Bruce  _did_  make me miss out on. You know my dad  _still_  gives me lectures about pulling ' _disappearing acts_ ' at galas and benefits. We haven't even attended one together in ages."

The thought saddened her, as she recalled how close they had been before. Before this double life, before she dropped her gymnastics in a pretense of it being favor of her studies. She breezed through her schooling so quickly and struck out on her own as soon as that had been accomplished, it only added to their conflict over her ideal career path.

But it could never diminish the love that she still held for her father. And how desperately she wanted to reconcile that part of their relationship.

All of these nuances weren't something she had explicitly shared with Dick yet, but he was fairly adept at picking up most of those clues.

"That's a shame. You know, you should-" Before Dick could complete the thought, his phone chimed softly. A quick tune, and a concerning grimace at the message it brought.

"Off to save a building full of orphans?" Babs guessed cheekily.

"Close. Meeting an old friend, about a book," he offered, typing up his reply and sending it off without any further explanation. He leaned over once more to peck Barbara's cheek. "Gonna have to leave after lunch to beat the commute to Blüdhaven, but I can order-in something for you tonight. My treat for the birthday girl."

The librarian gave a disapproving frown immediately.

"You mean your treat for  _missing_  your girlfriend's birthday dinner."

She knew it was a little too much to hope for, that Dick would stay the whole day in Gotham. They hadn't made too many plans, and if she was being honest with herself, some small part had been hoping the acrobat would step up this year to give her a surprise. But another part already knew that was too much to hope for. Especially given that they only agreed to give their relationship another chance, now that Dick was settled permanently in Blüdhaven.

"You say  _tomato_ -" he sang, trying to alleviate the tension.

"Aren't you running late for meeting that friend of yours?" Babs chuckled, forgetting her anger as she swiveled her chair. A student that was lingering just behind her boyfriend began to hesitantly approach her counter at the movement.

"You're the best, babe! Don't forget it!" he called over his shoulder, hand waving as he dashed out of the doors. The student librarian only shook her head, a smile lingering on her face as she gave the nervous college freshman her undivided attention.

~*~*~*~*~

Raven, like many students, was very adept at research. She had chosen Gotham State University for many reasons; the excellent pre-med program, the proximity to a city that was already under superhero protection, the opportunity to learn a thing or two about a past that she was more than wary of.

She appreciated the closeness that it offered as well, to one of her dearest friends. Though he lived a bit further away now than a simple walk down a hallway. It was rare moments like now, when he was in town (on-campus, no less!), that she was grateful for keeping in close touch.

Bundled against the autumn wind, she saw found him in the quad, checking his watch periodically as he kept a careful eye out for her. She cleared her throat as he turned his back, making her presence known.

Observant, though he was, she always did manage to sneak just under his radar.

"Raven, it's been awhile! How're classes going?" And there it was. That gracious smile, the way those blue eyes crinkled, sparkling even on an overcast day.

"About as well as they  _could_  be going," Raven sighed, shaking her head, "But that's not why I asked you to meet me." She motioned for him to follow her, taking a seat along a bench.

The campus was eerily quiet in the brisk autumnal chill. With class in session, only a few students lingered in the quad, making quiet conversations as they moved between buildings, on small errands with nothing hurrying their steps besides the occasional sharp Gotham wind, the kind that cut icily through even the thickest of coats.

Raven chose a bench strategically braced between the campus center and a sizable sculpture that faced the quad, two structures that kept such winds at bay. And Dick remembered fondly why Raven had become one of his favorite teammates.

Steadily, she opened her bag, pulling out the washcloth-wrapped book, and slowly unveiling it to her former leader. He stayed silent, brows furrowing as he leaned forward to decipher what was on the cover, waiting patiently for the empath to explain herself, and knowing well that she would.

"A few nights ago, I caught my neighbors trying to summon... some  _cousins_ , I suspect. Kids, playing with forces they don't understand. Etcetera. Normally, I'd make sure that their ouija boards were missing a few important letters or snuff out a few candles myself to snap them out going too far but... This is an  _actual grimoire_ , Dick."

"So, this thing has real power to it," he guessed, "That why you have it wrapped up so tight?"

"I can't tell yet if its cursed or tainted in any way. Not yet. But-" she paused as she began wrapping the book back up, biting her lip in thought. "You know I wanted a break. Even just a small one. From all of...  _this_. But, Dick, someone's putting  _dangerous_  magic into the  _wrong_  hands. Those girls could've gotten seriously hurt."

The detective frowned as she spoke, eyeing the book as she slid it back into her bag. "Y'know. Babs mentioned running into... I mean, it might not even  _be_  connected, of course, but my gut is telling me  _otherwise_ -" he paused, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck before making a decision. "You oughta compare notes with her, Rae. Or at least consider handing it off to her, or the others."

"Not that I doubt their skill," she started lowly, "But you'll understand why I'm hesitant to let someone  _not_  attuned with the mystic arts handle a case like this."

"No, I absolutely get it. And you're right. B, Babs, myself. We're all muggles," he chuckled, "But, this is also B's city. His city, his rules on who runs what kind of investigations and patrols over it."

The empath frowned at his words, recalling the cryptic note and brief, tense rooftop conversation that she had with Gotham's Dark Knight. He'd been very clear about her probationary hero status while living as a civilian in his city, and she, in turn, had been very clear about her intentions. The last thing she wanted was to be involved in Gotham's problems.

"Hell, he's so overbearing about that," Dick continued, almost as if picking up on her thoughts. Given their bond, he probably was. "Most of the time I don't even  _bother_  bringing my costume over with me when I visit like this. It's too much hassle and only adds drama at the next  _Batfamily_  reunion. Can you  _imagine_  that?  _Drama_  from a bunch of people who dress  _like bats_  and  _birds_?"

Raven smiled wryly. "Sounds like the place to be."

"Maybe I'll pencil you in as my plus-one, next time," he let go of a quick laugh, without much humor, before becoming serious once more. She could already feel how he wanted to change the direction of conversation once more. "You've met Babs before, haven't you?"

"Briefly. That time Donna introduced her and Kara as, uh... how did she pronounce it again?" She began to smile wider as Dick let out, this time genuine, laughter.

"Her  _seh-boofs_ ," they echoed in sync, before chuckling together at the memory. Some people had friends, some had  _super_  best friends.

"Yeah, just don't bring  _that_  up around Babs... You two should get along just fine," he said, wiping away a tear that had formed in his eye from the mirth. "No, but really... It's... actually her birthday today." He ran a hand through his hair quickly, as Raven raised a questioning eyebrow for him. "I can't stay in town, but I'm sure she'd appreciate you stopping in. Even if it's about...  _business_."

Raven let out a groan, throwing her own head into her hands in frustration. "You just  _had_  to suggest all of this, right on the heels of it being her  _birthday_ , Dick?"

"Hey! I didn't know you needed to meet with her! Honestly, I thought you were returning my copy of  _Mr. Murder_. Besides, she's been very... nonchalant about it anyways. It'll be fine."

"You know how I am about  _birthdays_ -"

"Rae, you're overthinking it," he said, rolling his eyes as he stood up. "Meet her again. Talk about books, other than your maybe-cursed-one first. Try to ease her into taking the reigns on your case. I'm sure she'd be happy for your help."

"I'll hold you to it, boy blunder," the empath threatened lowly as she rose from her seat to join him.

"See, that's how I  _know_  you two will get along," he smiled as he led the way to the campus library, "You even have similar insults for me."

~*~*~*~*~

Barbara leaned forward in her seat, holding her hand against her chin and tapping her lips absentmindedly as she stared down at the book resting atop her coffee table.

"Run that through for me, one more time," she said, causing the Titan let out an annoyed sigh.

After Dick had briefly introduced the women to one another, he'd suggested ' _talking business over some burritos_ ', effectively ruining any plans that Raven had for the evening.

Not that she usually made too many plans in the first place.

Meanwhile, Barbara was trying to keep any reservations she still held against the former Titan at bay. The pair certainly didn't have the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on one another when they met a couple years back, so there was really no telling how this evening could go.

So far, by both of them ignoring Dick's advice and keeping conversation solely on the task at hand, it was becoming rather daunting.

"I want to be sure I'm not missing anything here," Barbara urged, waiting for Raven to pick her story up from the beginning again.

"Alright... It's Friday night. I feel a  _disturbance_  in  _the force_ -"

"-I thought Dick said you didn't have movies on  _Azarath_ -"

"-Do you want the story again or not, Barbara?" The younger teen's eye twitched, almost imperceptibly, and Babs gestured for her to continue while picking up her burrito for another bite.

"I knock on my neighbor's door, interrupt whatever kind of ritual the girls thought they were performing, and pick up  _this_ -" she gestured back to the offending book while sneering- "But I've yet to hear anything about how magic like this could get into a non-arcane's hands. Gotham doesn't exactly have the  _biggest_   _scene_  here in the East. Especially not compared to  _New York_ -"

"' _Arcane_ '. You've used that a couple times tonight," Babs noted. "How is this different from, say, a  _meta_  issue?"

"Honestly? Probably not that much different," Raven shrugged, "Except with  _metas_ ,  _you_  can use science to help you. Arcanes,  _homo magi_ , mystics? Demons and gods and monsters? We've got our own set of rules and logic. And trying to mix those worlds hasn't historically boded well for either side involved."

"I think I know exactly what you mean," the bat stood up from her seat, running back into her kitchen were she last put her case file. Carefully gathering everything together, she handed it off to the Titan. "On Friday I happened to be on a mission on my own. And I think I could use your help with it."

Raven flipped through the pictures slowly, taking in as many details as she could, the gears already turning in her mind. She shared those thoughts as she began glancing over the notes and theories the Batgirl had written.

"This isn't just  _cannibalism_  or  _human sacrifice_. This is has a lot of similarities to the  _Brujería_ -" The empath stopped in her tracks as she felt the detective's shift in mood. "Is there something you find  _funny_  about that?"

The look of shock soon gave way to understanding, as Babs had to remind herself, again, of Raven's unique ability. She never figured she could be read so easily, even by an empath.

"Actually, yeah," she confessed, brow furrowing as she pointed accusingly at the Titan, "That's spanish for witchcraft, isn't it? Are you trying to get me to believe that it's the  _name_  of some... cult or something? Seems a little on-the-nose."

"Coming from a  _Gothamite_  who dresses like a  _bat_  at  _night_?" Raven quipped, raising her eyebrow at the vigilante.

"Okay,  _glass houses_ ," she relented, putting her hands up in surrender, "Still doesn't answer my question."

"One of the key elements of  _stage magic_  is misdirection," the empath explained, letting the thinness of her patience show in her voice as she set the file aside. "Hiding in plain site allows for exactly that kind of dismissal that you just gave, to continue. Which is why these cults and these covens, are so especially dangerous. Because so many of y- you...  _muggles_  are willing to brush them away so quickly!"

With a distinct  _crack_ , the women turned their heads as their glasses began spilling tea and soda along the librarian's coffee table. Raven made a dash to pick up the book, careful to wrap it again in the cloth, while Babs grabbed all of the napkins and began placing them along the table's surface. The empath made quiet apologies as they began dabbing up the mess.

As they began chucking the soaked napkins into the trash, Babs knew it was her turn to apologize in kind.

"I'm not... as familiar or as comfortable as Dick is with this kind of thing," she admitted, "But I do know something needs to be done about it. Fast." She sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter. "It's hard enough for us to keep up with the drug trade and gangs when they reform and shuffle around  _without_  the magic. I'm sure normally, B would simply call in Zatanna or someone for help on this-"

"Well, then that might very well be an answer to your problem," Raven laughed darkly. "Fate and Zatanna's magic used to be all over this city. But I haven't felt it for weeks now."

"You don't mean-"

"Whatever kind of protection they may have had in place over Gotham," Raven scowled, "Someone's broken right through it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know its been a year since i started this but LISTEN  
> for updates/requests/gen chitchat feel free to hit up my ask @dyketectivecomics on tumblr. comments & kudos much appreciated *prayer hands*


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